The iPad was launched at all 222 of Apple's American retail store locations (plus Best Buys and indy resellers) at midnight AEST yesterday, and in the lead up to the event, the "magical and revolutionary device" made dozens of appearances in the press. For the tenth edition of Weekend News today here's a massive round-up of what I consider to be the best, most in-depth, informative and useful reviews of the iPad, plus a few tidbits from the launch itself.
First up, the reviews. There have been quite a few of these and, of course, there will be more and more as the days go on. Here's the best of what's online so far, in no particular order.
Joshua Topolsky has written an insanely detailed review of the iPad's functionality and potential. Among his favourite apps though, he spends quite some time talking about the iBooks app and what is has to offer for ebook readers. He seems to be quite convinced that iBooks will destroy the huge market share that the Kindle has been enjoying for a few years now, and goes on to say: "It would be easy to rattle off a thousand words alone on how good of an e-book experience this is".
Read:*Apple iPad review - Engadget
Xeni Jardin has taken a slightly more philosophical approach to the big task of reviewing an iPad, and as a result provides a fantastic summary of what the iPad can achieve where no other platform can. "The iPad hits a completely new pleasure spot. The display is large enough to make the experience of apps and games on smaller screens stale. Typography is crisp, images gem-like, and the speed brisk thanks to Apple's A4 chip and solid state storage ... the thought hits that this is a greater leap into a new user experience than the sum of its parts suggests".
Read:*Apple's iPad is a touch of genius - Boing Boing
Jason Snell has also written a huge in-depth review of the iPad, and includes a speed test taken with Safari on a variety of Apple's devices. According to his results, the iPad took just 10.4 seconds in a JavaScript performance test that the iPhone 3GS takes 15.5 seconds to complete, representing a clear speed advantage. He calls Apple's device "a solid glass-and-metal slab of high technology".
Read:*Apple iPad review - Macworld
Tim Gideon's take on the iPad was from the perspective of a PC user, but he still gave the in-betweener an Editor's Choice award, which is a very impressive thumbs-up for Apple. He even admits that he was initially quite sceptical of Apple's convergence device, mentioning that after the January event where the iPad was unveiled "Aside from Apple enthusiasts, many of us wondered who would drop hundreds of dollars for this not-quite-computer. But having used the iPad for some time, I can tell you that the device just makes sense." His review is then split into multiple pages (a pet hate) so if you're inclined not to read it, check out his excellent hands-on video instead.
Read: Apple iPad (Wi-Fi) - PC Magazine
Watch: Apple iPad Video Review - Vimeo
Now, heavy hitter number one: Walt Mossberg. Though often criticised for being a little too friendly to Apple in some reviews, Mossberg writes a fairly good wrap-up of what the iPad offers to consumers everywhere. While he believes "this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly", Walt also notes "I did run into some other annoying limitations. For instance, the email program lacks the ability to create local folders or rules for auto-sorting messages, and it doesn't allow group addressing". Like the aforementioned Tim Gideon review, The Wall Street Journal has also included a video of the product with webcam Walt.
Read: iPad Opens a New Frontier - The Wall Street Journal
Watch: iPad More Than an Oversized iPod touch - 9to5Mac
Heavy hitter number two is of course David Pogue, who split his review into two different angles - one for "the techies" and one for everyone else. For the first, he's less than satisfied with the iPad, suggesting that all the best features won't even be around until the second generation, and ending with "If you’ve already got a laptop and a smartphone, who’s going to carry around a third machine?". Meanwhile, his review for the rest of the world is considerably more enthusiastic - "The iPad is so fast and light, the multitouch screen so bright and responsive, the software so easy to navigate, that it really does qualify as a new category of gadget".
Read: Looking at the iPad From Two Angles - The New York Times
Andy Ihnatko has been writing about Apple for quite some time now, so his review takes into account the evolution of computing (and what the iPad changes) better than any of the other articles I've read about it. He even justifies the extraordinary pre-launch hype very well in the opening paragraph - "No company can generate as much hype around a product launch as Apple. But that’s perfectly OK because no company is also nearly as successful at producing a new product".
Read: iPad is pure innovation: one of the best computers ever - Chicago Sun-Times
Stephen Levy's article is more of a first look than proper review, but still has some fantastic points to make. He calls it a "groundbreaking new way to consume media" and though he addresses a few of the standard complaints such as the lack of multitasking and closed nature of the App Store, he was "sold on the idea that the time was right for an iPad-like tablet to bring us to the next step in computing ... using the actual iPad has only strengthened my view". There's also a hands-on video for your enjoyment.
Read: Apple's iPad: One Small Step for Tablets, One Giant Leap for Personal Computers - Wired
Watch: Hands-on with Apple - Wired
Next up is Edward Baig, who (like everyone above) is certainly impressed with the iPad's capabilities and has no qualms in calling it "a winner" even in the headline of his review. He does, however, spend a good deal of time discussing the deficiencies in the iPad, which is almost a refreshing change from all the positive feedback that Apple's been getting so far. His largest complaints lie in the "Version 1.0 inadequacies. It doesn't multitask, save playing iTunes music in the background. There's no webcam for those of us hoping to do video chats. The battery is sealed. It's too big for your pocket".
Read: Verdict is in on Apple iPad: It's a winner - USA Today
Finally, the somewhat infamous Michael Arrington got his hands (through a very brave third-party developer) on an "unauthorised" iPad to take a look at it. He's almost despised by a few notable members of the tech journalist community, but that hasn't stopped him from giving the iPad his seal of approval. He ends with "I’d pay $1,000 for a chained to the desk iPad. The fact that tomorrow I’ll get the one I pre-ordered for just $500, chain free, makes me very happy indeed".
Read: The Unauthorized iPad Review - TechCrunch
So, who else got to play with this thing? Apple handled review units for the iPad differently to the way it has in past. Tech blogs such as Engadget and Gizmodo were ignored in favour of more mainstream media outlets, and as a result, preview iPads spent more time in the hands of Colbert, Fallon and company than in the hands of some of those who are arguably more technically able. The good news is that many of the segments that were prepared about the device made good television, so I've listed just a couple here.
Stephen Colbert presented an exciting demonstration of the iPad's ability to make salsa, following up on his previous appearance with the iPad at the Grammys earlier in the year.
Watch: Stephen Gets a Free iPad - The Colbert Report
Jimmy Fallon had the iPad on his NBC late night talk show with Engadget's editor-in-chief to help him through it. The crowd were mesmerised by iBooks, and Jimmy managed to crack a joke every now and then too.
Watch: Joshua Topolsky Shows Off the iPad - Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
My least favourite of the bunch, David Letterman was mostly just confused during his iPad segment, but naysayers may have been more pleased than I was, considering his list of 'the top ten reasons not to buy an iPad'.
Watch: Dave gets a taste of the iPad - The Late Show With David Letterman
Though it wasn't a television segment, Stephen Fry had the best things to say about Apple's iPad in his guest piece for TIME magazine. Given the opportunity to spend some time with Steve Jobs (and the iPad itself, naturally), he gave us a rare glimpse into the life of El Jobso.
Read: The iPad Launch - Can Steve Jobs Do It Again? - TIME
The best of the rest. Photos, Steve sightings, unboxing videos and everything else that makes up an extra special Apple launch event can be found below.
The crew at Gizmodo may not have posted their full review of the iPad (at time of writing), but they've still had plenty of coverage over the last few days. Here's what you should be reading:
Read:*Steve Jobs Makes a Stealth Appearance at the Palo Alto Apple Store,*10 Essential iPad Tips & Tricks,*Gizmodo's Essential iPad Apps.
Not to be outdone, Engadget has queue and unboxing photos/videos to boot. They also spotted Mr Steve Wozniak fourth in line at Apple's San Jose store.
Read: iPad line watch: the few, the proud?, Apple iPad unboxing.
Fox News' Clayton Morris hosted a fantastic (if not a little bit lengthy) round-table discussion with John Gruber, Natali Del Conte, Mike Rose and the likes yesterday. If you've got the time, you'll get heaps of analysis and a little bit of Apple enthusiast rambling from the entire panel during the show.
Watch: Gadget and Games: 4/2
If you were left wondering about just how many iPads were sold in the first few hours of sale, analyst Gene Munster has come to the rescue. He says between 600-700,000 iPads have been purchased today, which (if accurate) means more than double the number of iPhones taken home on day one.
Read: Analyst: Apple sold 600-700 thousand iPads the first day - The Loop
Photo from Cult of Mac.
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